Lee Zii Jia and Malaysia off to flying start at Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2023
Men's singles World No. 4 Lee Zii Jia needed just 30 minutes to win his opening match against the UAE in Dubai. Malaysia cruised past the hosts.
Badminton
Malaysia got off to a fast start at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship 2023, thanks to the brilliance of World No. 4 Lee Zii Jia on Tuesday (14 February).
The men's singles World No. 4 beat local shuttler Bharath Latheesh 21-12, 21-15 in just 30 minutes to give the defending champions a 1-0 lead overall.
Lee's compatriot Goh Jin Wei made even quicker work of Madhumitha Sundarapandian in the women's singles, taking a 21-0, 21-7 win in 19 minutes.
It then became 3-0 when Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi teamed up to beat Dev Ayyappan and Dhiren Ayyappan 21-11, 21-13.
Malaysia's women's doubles pairing of Tan Pearly and Thinnaah Muralitharan saw off Sanika Dhawan Gurav and Taabia Khan 21-9, 21-8 before their mixed doubles pair of
Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing defeated Dev Vishnu and Aleena Qathun 21-10, 21-9.
Lee Zii Jia back to winning ways
Lee Zii Jia is hoping for a new beginning at this team event.
Malays'a star shuttler has been sturggling lately. Since winning the Asian title and the Thailand Open last May, he has reached just one final and failed to make it past the round of 16 on no fewer than six occasions.
The 24-year-old is without a coach having parted ways with Indra Wijaya last November, and the former world number two quickly needs to regain his form if he wants to challenge for the men's singles title at the All England Championships in March.
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